Baby with Congestion/rattling

If you are worried and want to be comforted by a dr visit, by all means, do so, but it sounds as though he just has some sinus congestion that is draining into his throat. I used to get worried when my son sounded like that, but every time I took him to the dr, they said it was just that. I was always concerned that it was in his lungs. So do what you have to do, but I just wanted to let you know, I have heard what you are talking about in my own son. Good day!

my 6 month old is going through that same thing for the second time. I now am trying that Johnson and Johnson's Soothing Vapor bath. I have used it once and it cleared her up for the most part. She still gets a little rattley once and awhile at night or in the mornings but it is not nearly as bad. Since she seems comfortable and not running a fever, I haven't called the doctor. But if you get too worried, call his doctor and see what they say. Good luck!

This sounds like it could be tracheomalacia (floppiness of the trachea). Does he tend to NOT cough? Like he has a sign of being sick, but never coughs? The rattle could be from pneumonia, but it would have to be viral, and if he hasn't appeared to be sick in the last 2 weeks, then that can't be it. Our son rattles when he has been sick, and has moderate tracheomalacia secondary to a vascular ring. My friend had a baby with TM. If it doesn't seem to affect his breathing, then it is probably very mild, and it will heal on its own. If he seems to have breathing issues, and this would tend to be during activity, crying, or dream sleep, and then it goes away once napping or calm (but just takes longer than most babies), then I would suspect TM. It could be laryngomalacia instead, but surely he would have had problems before now with that. And, the good news is that it will be resolved by 9-12 mos. 6-8 mos is the worst for primary TM.

The other idea is that if it correlates with eating. If he has an esophagus problem, like a floppy esophagus because of being born early or something or family history, that may cause the rattling. But, that is usually after starting solids, and I wouldn't expect by 7 mos, you would be giving him many finger foods. If he is eating crackers already, then rattling, perhaps that is the problem, and just backing off on the foods would be the answer to give it time to heal.

Hello,
I have a 10 month jold son. He seems to have a constant cough for a few months. It was mainly bad at night. When ever he woke up he was really congested. After going to the doc about this a few times and them saying it was just a cold we switched docs. The new doc couldn't really find a reason either and said it was probably just a cold but just to be sure lets go see an allergist. He went yesterday. He is allergic to dust and some other stuff in our house. Luckily it is an easy fix. But it is good that we found out.

Get this evaluated by your pediatrician. If you don't have one, I couldn't recommend higher:

Mid-KS Pediatrics
east ###-###-####
west ###-###-####

You do not want to miss something that you need to be doing, or a more serious underlying condition. There is a lot of RSV, and bronchiolitis this year, and hopefully it is not that. But I sure would want an expert with babies to tell me for sure.

I would take him to the doctor to rule out Pnuemonia or put your head on his chest and listen to see if it is coming from his chest at all first.

Hi B.,
My son did the same thing around that age. It seemed like if I could teach him to clear his throat, he would be better. I asked the doctor at numerous visits (he had it for months!) and they had me try everything from vaporizers to sinus sprays, etc. Finally I had an appointment and ended up seeing a nurse practioner. She told me it could be a real mild case of acid reflux, from fluid coming back up, but just hanging out in his throat. I thought she was nuts, but I went ahead and used the Prevacid samples she gave me. I have to tell you that within a couple days, I noticed a HUGE improvement. By the time we finished the month of samples, he wasn't making the noise anymore. I would have never thought my son had reflux, but the prevacid truly worked. I just wanted to share my experience, because I remember feeling so awful for my little boy. Hopefully you will be able to find something that works. Best of luck. Let me know if you go this route. I'd love to hear if it worked for you! Take care.

Yeah, I think it would be best to get him to see his doc. He very well could be allergic to something, or have asthma.
I'm no doctor, I'm going on how my daughter is. She used to rattle too and cough A LOT!! Now that she's on meds. she is sooooooo much better!

Hope your little guy gets better! ls

I would take him to see his Dr. if I questioned it enough to ask on here. Better safe than sorry I say.

I would maybe call your pediatrician's office and maybe ask a nurse? It's probably just an upper respiratory infection. My little guy got them all the time when he was a baby.

Try elevating one end of his crib matress and using a humidifyer in his room at night. Otherwise, I would take him to the doctor and make sure there isn't asthma or some other medical condition causing this.

Take care and God Bless :)
T.

If it's in his nose, it could be sinus problems, maybe due to allergies. Think if there's anything different you have put in his bed or maybe try a room purifier, if you don't already have one. It may also be due to teething. If it's in his chest, then it could be asthma, but it usually wouldn't go away after he's up and moving. Does he drink milk (of any sort in his sleep)? - it could be that settling & creating a congestion that clears up after he's been up for a while. You may even try running a humidifier in his - check to see if the steam or the cool air is better.

Hi B., my son has had this problem too throughout the winter. I found that rubbing a little Vicks Baby Rub on his chest before bedtime helps with his congestion after a full nights sleep. Also, a steam vaporizer in his room can help relieve some of the congestion. I just picked one up at Target ($14.00) last weekend when he had croup and it worked like a charm. We'll all be glad when the weather gets back to somewhat normal.
C.

Hi B.!
My son is 6 months old and has that too. Hes had it for awhile, it always bothered me so I have brought it up to his pediatrician twice and she said it was ok. She said babies are just not able or dont know how to clear their throat. So they do that until they eventually cough. I know how you feel, I brought it up twice just to make sure it was still ok, and she said its fine. I think its more common in bigger babies. Which my son is.
But if he has cold/flu symptoms, you might want to have him checked out.
When my son does that, I cough and try to get him to cough, sometimes it works, usually he just thinks Im silly.
Good luck, I hope this makes you feel a little better!

B. i agree with molly b. for the most part i wouldn't worry unless he has other symptoms. you say "often", not all the time. with this weather, my son and i both have had runny noses, sniffles, slight congestion, off and on forever it seems. keep in mind, also like molly said, babies don't know how to clear their throats. if we get phlegm we just cough it up, they don't know to do that so it stays in there vibrating and making all kinds of wierd noises. i have seen my son do the same thing. it sounds wierd, but when he got a little older than your boy, i actually tried to tell him to cough to teach him lol. it actually kinda worked! the things we do as moms..lol. anyway, absolutely keep an eye on it, and if it gets more worrisome, absolutely take him to the dr...i just don't have much faith in them after having my son. i called them for every little sniff and sniffle, and it was always "bring him in"...a prescription...and an outrageous bill. i'm convinced medicine does a lot more harm than good in many cases. just my two cents. hope it helps!

Hello! This sounds a lot like what my youngest has. He also had some other issues that led me to do what I did, I only wish that I would have insisted on it sooner. After several months doctor's visits, ER visits, and antibiotics, I decided to take my son to an Allergy and Asthma Specialist to see if there was an allergen causing his problems. I have excellent insurance (thank goodness) so I didn't have to have a referral and I just made the appointment and took him. He was diagnosed with a slight case of Asthma right before his first birthday. He was put on Pulmicort, which is a non-steroidal medicine given by a nebulizer and it is a preventative medicine. He has been sick once in the past 7 months since being on the medicine, in which time the pediatrician and specialist consulted each other and decided to give him Albuterol, but only for the duration of the rattling and cough, after that he went back to the Pulmicort. I can't tell you enough how much I wish that I would have done something about it sooner. He would be rattling at night before he went to bed, while he slept, and for a few minutes after he woke up, never when we were at the pediatrician's office so she never got to hear what I was talking about. The specialist was able to get him to do what he needed to confirm asthma so I was greatly relieved just to know what it was and how to try to minimize it. I hope this helps.